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The Ring
The Ring The Lush Ring, or simply The Ring, is the stripe of land that surrounds The Inner Sea. It is a very prosperous and fertile land. The lakeside, especially on the east and south, is home to many a port and fishermen village. Merchants and farmers alike thrive with the constant temperate summer that blesses this land. Trading is not the only matter that lures men and women to this region, though: The Oracle that sits on the central island of The Inner Sea can also be credited with a large fraction of that interest. People from every corner of The Navel come here and, over the years, many have chosen this place as their home. That alone would suffice to turn The Ring into a cultural pot, but, on top of that, one should also add the presence of the dark-skinned folk of The Ring, who are said to be the original inhabitants of this area. For their physical description, please refer to Physiological Traits. Culturally speaking, however, it is hard to tell the people apart, since the mixture is far too widespread for them to be singled out. Indeed, the entire populace of The Ring has its own, diverse and colourful heritage: they are curious and easy-going as the southerners, regal and refined as the westerners, passionate and driven as the easterners, and proud and united as the northerners, with each individual having a different proportion of those characteristics. At the same time, though, they also display some of the less appealing traits of the four nations: the unreliability of the southerners, the pedantry of the westerners, the power-hunger of the easterners and the suspicion of the northerners. One could say that they are even worse at those things than the actual people from whom they got them, since they wear those quirks more discreetly than the inhabitants of the four kingdoms. The Ring does not have a king. Each city is ruled by a lord, a lady or a council. However it is often said that those are a mere façade, for the true power of The Ring lies within The Merchant Guilds, which, despite their seemingly unharmful title, wage a quiet and deadly war on the streets of The Inner Sea's coastal cities, with the repercussions of that war often being felt in the nearby areas of the four kingdoms. Relevant Cities of The Ring and their Rulers The largest city on The Ring is Lushmoor. It is by far the wealthiest and busiest of all the ring cities. The reason for its prosperity is quite clear, as it was built by The Crossroads, the place where The Godsway and The Redpath meet (respectively, the south-north and the east-west main trade routes). It is a bustling town, second only to The Golden Citadel in size, but far exceeding it in variety of wares. It is governed by House Corvinus, whose sigil is a flying red raven on a nocturnal sky. The reputation of the Corvinus family is as shady as that of the merchants in their town. The second most important city on the grasslands is Freepass. It is known for being a safe haven for travellers and merchants alike. It lies on the northern shore of The Inner Sea and is ruled by a council of merchant lords. While Lushmoor has grown rich for its business with the four kingdoms, Freepass has prospered by extending a helping hand to its fellow ring cities, which has earned it a great reverence from them. The council's belief has always been that wealth should be shared, so that all may prosper equally. While that is far from being the actual reality of things, it is undeniable that Freepass is more generous than its larger sister. On the east side of The Inner Sea, there is only one large city, Loneport. It is governed by House Eastman, who is responsible for most of the business with Ashland. It is said that they have been responsible for raiding nearby villages that were growing prosperous in the past, to guarantee their monopoly in trading with the eastern kingdom. Their sigil is the letter "E", with the middle line being fashioned as an arrow pointing eastwards, painted red on a white field.